Love Actually
by RuJa4EVA
Summary: A young Scotland and his 10-year-old brother England fend for themselves as they mourn the loss of their mother, Frances. Arthur has fallen for his classmate Francis and seeks the help and advice of his clueless older brother. New Year's present for Olivia, apology for my lack of Scottish knowledge - an Anglophile wrote this. Small amount of FrUk.


**Head's up: This is probably the worst fanfiction I have ever written. I have no idea how to write for Scotland, yet I attempted in hopes of making a nice little present for Olivia. Happy New Year!**

* * *

The streets of the world bustled with people rushing every which way to buy the last of their Christmas presents before the holiday sales ran out, yet William Kirkland remained by the Loch Ness, eyes searching the lake. He sighed and rubbed his temples, clenching his fist in partial nervousness and partial anger at the nervousness making him out as some sort of emotional numpty. "Ah dammit all…" He stood up, facing the lake with sudden confidence, and shouted at it. "Nessie? It's me again. I'm sorry, I literally don't have anybody else to talk to."

The beautiful monster emerged from the water with fish clutched tightly between her jaws, looking at William sympathetically. "Absolutely. Horrible moment, though. Can we talk later?"

"Aye, of course." William nodded, fierce eyes looking directly into Nessie's own. She could be such a worrywart sometimes, and he dinnae need her guilt on his conscious right now.

"Doesn't mean I'm not terribly concerned that your maw just died." Nessie lingered, clearly torn about leaving William by himself.

He chuckled, trying to put her at ease. "Understood. Uh, bugger off, just talk to me later."

* * *

William stood at the front of The Kirk, scanning the crowd of nations and frowning grimly. This really wasn't his thing at all, spewing out some mince eulogy to a buncha manky people he dinnae give a rat's ass aboot. "Me Maw and I had a, uh, lot of time to prepare for this moment." He glanced down at the podium. "Some of her, uh…requests, for instance, that I should bring Karen Gillan as my date to the funeral, I was confident she expected me to ignore." He chuckled but stopped when he realized the joke had fallen flat with the uncomfortable audience. What, they couldn't have some fun just because someone died? It was his own mother for god's sake, he should be able to dictate what was allowed to be said and what wasn't.

He resisted the urge to roll his eyes and continued in a more somber tone. "But others she was pretty damn clear aboot. When she first mentioned what's aboot to happen, I said, 'Over my dead body.' And she said, 'No, William, over mine.' And as usual, my dear ol' maw..." His eyes flickered to the front row, where his younger brother sat staring blankly at the floor, a pained expression on his face. His voice shook a bit as he hastily tried to finish, quickly looking away from the judging, "sympathetic" eyes of the other countries. "…and Arthur's darling mum was right. So she's going to say her final farewell to ye not through me but, inevitably, ever so coolly, through the immortal genius of the Bay City Rollers."

Bye Bye Baby Goodbye started playing over the speakers as the other nations listened in silence. He noticed Arthur watching him and turned away, walking over to the casket and lifting it with the other pole bearers, keeping his head bowed. William averted his eyes as they passed Arthur, the young boy desperately turning around to look after the coffin helplessly. The other countries rose respectfully, and William mentally cursed himself as eyes started to water.

* * *

"He spends all his time in his room." William skipped a stone across the water from the shore of the Loch Ness, the head of Nessie resting between his knees. Two weeks had passed since their mother had died, and yet Arthur still refused to talk aboot it. Hell, he refused to talk aboot anything now, and his constant silence was driving Will crazy – crazier than his usual constant blathering. "I mean, he'll be up there now."

"There's nothing unusual about that." Nessie's eyes scanned the lake even as she spoke, constantly on the lookout for anything of interest. "Lots of boys his age keep to themselves."

"Yeah but Nessie this is _all_ the time." He lowered his voice to a whisper as if Arthur might somehow be able to hear him from their house. "I'm afraid that there's something really wrong, ye know? I mean, clearly it's aboot his mum, but Christ, he might be injecting heroin into his eyeballs for all anno." His eyebrows furrowed at the creation of his own horrible mental image.

"At the age of eleven?" Nessie turned her head towards Urquhart Castle, peering into the window and fainting discerning the tiny stickers on Arthur's door reading "If your name's not Arthur, you're not coming in!" and "No admittance to nosey brothers!" that surrounded a large sign reading "KEEP OUT" - warnings that replaced the usual unicorn and fairy posters that had always used to hang there.

"Well, maybe not his eyeballs, then. Maybe just his veins." William chuckled, trying against the odds to keep the conversation lighthearted. He wasn't much for emotional talks like this, but he couldn't keep this in much longer and he knew Nessie, the one person he could openly talk to, would understand. "The problem is our maw always used to talk to him, ye know, and… I don't know… this whole big brother thing seems suddenly to somehow matter like it never did before."

Nessie nuzzled him affectionately. "Listen, it was always going to be a totally shit time. Just be patient. And maybe check the room for needles." She frowned as the humor went unnoticed by William, who suddenly seemed deeply troubled in his own little world.

"And then when…he sometimes does come out, it's obvious he's been crying." William broke off abruptly, burying his face in one hand as his shoulders shook. Nessie looked up in alarm and nuzzled his face again comfortingly. "It was such a…ridiculous…waste. And if it's now going to ruin Arthur's life as well..." He choked up again. "I just don't know."

"Get a grip. People hate sissies." Nessie joked, smiling sympathetically. "No one's ever gonna shag ye if ye cry all the time."

William finally cracked a smile, chuckling again. "Yeah. Absolutely. Helpful."

* * *

William sat on a park bench by the River Thames, silently listening to the calls of the gulls and the slurping of little Arthur, sitting beside him, as he drank the iced tea the Scot had bought him. Such an odd boy, never wanting soda or juice like other children. Even getting him to drink iced tea was hard, especially in the baltic winter, as he thought nothing but a hot cuppa would do. But lately all the fight seemed to go out of his younger brother, so when William had offered the bevvy up Arthur accepted it without complaint.

When he noticed the young blonde shiver, William decided he had kept the silence going long enough. The boy was probably dying with curiousity over why his brother had dragged him out here for "a little chat", and to make him wait out in the freezing cold any longer while William tried to get his act together would be torture. "So…what's the problem, Arthur? Is it just Mum orrr…is it something else, huh?"

Arthur looked down uncomfortably, avoiding his eyes. William faltered for a second but forced himself to keep at it, the emotion creeping into his voice. "Maybe…school? Are ye bein' bullied? Or…is it something worse? Can ye give me any clues at all?"

Arthur stared at the ground, his eyes downcast. Finally, he looked up into William's face, searching it suspiciously for an ulterior motive. "…You really want to know?"

William nodded, not missing a beat. "I really want to know."

Arthur looked at him skeptically. "Even though you won't be able to do _anything_ to help?"

Will sighed, fearing the worst. If he really couldn't do anything, then maybe this was all a complete waste of time. Then again, Arthur was just a little kid...likely to make mountains out of molehills. "Even if that's the case, aye."

"…Okay." Arthur looked away again, hesitating. "Well, truth is, actually…I'm in love."

William stared at the Brit blankly, waiting for some sort of punchline or for Arthur to expand on his statement. When his brother did nothing, Will raised an eyebrow, confused. "Sorry?

"I know I should be thinking about Mum all the time and I _am_ but the truth is, I'm in love." He said it simply, as if a matter of fact. "I was before she died and there's nothing I can do about it."

William burst out laughing, half in relief and half in amusement. This was the cause of all the crying? Leave it to little Arthur to shrug off the death of his maw like it was no thing and then get all worked up over a little crush, like some soppy romantic. When he saw Arthur's perturbed expression, he tried to explain himself between chuckles. "Aren't ye a bit…_young_ to be in love?"

Arthur furrowed his eyebrows and stared at William as if offended. "No."

William mimicked Arthur's serious appearance, humoring him. "Ah, well. OK, aye." He grinned, ruffling Arthur's hair."Well, I'm a little relieved."

Arthur tilted his head innocently. "Why?"

William spread out his hands, amazed by Arthur's lack of understanding. He had to have noticed Will's concern this whole time, right? He couldn't be that oblivious. "Because I...thought it'd be something worse."

Arthur shook his head as if Will was the stupid one. "_Worse _than the total _agony_ of being in love?"

"Uh…" William stopped smiling, at a loss for what Arthur wanted him to say. He scratched the back of his head, feeling awkward in his inability to communicate properly with his own kin. "No,ye're right… Total agony, huh?"

* * *

"So, let's go. We can definitely crack this." William paced the living room, noting Arthur's pout from the couch across the room. That's all his sibling did lately, make depressed faces, and Will eagerly looked forward to the day he'd stop with the uncomfortable demeanor. "Remember, I was a kid once, too. So, come on, it's someone at school. Right?"

"Yeah." Arthur leaned his elbow against the couch, a skeptical look on his face. William rolled his eyes; his brother could be such a scunner sometimes.

He tried not to let the brat's attitude get to him, though. He was here to be the good big brother, helpful like his maw wanted him to be. "Uh-huh. Good, good. And what does she, he, feel about ye?

Arthur's tone suddenly switched from cynicism to melancholy. "_He_ doesn't even know my name. And even if he did, he'd despise me." He suddenly smiled, albeit wistfully. "He's the coolest boy in school. And everyone worships him because he's _heaven_."

William frowned, walking over and clapping a hand on the English boy's shoulder. "Good. Good. Well…" He paused, then suddenly broke into a grin. "Basically yer fucked, aren't ye?"

* * *

Will sat in his study, staring blankly at the wall behind the computer screen. A bottle of Glenlivet dangled loosely in his hand, half empty. It was well past midnight, yet no desire to sleep overcame him.

The fuck was he even doing with his life? Drowning himself in whiskey, over what? His mother's death? His brother's future without her? Ha! He let out a cold, dark chuckled. As if he could ever be that selfless.

"Will?"

And yet that one tiny, helpless voice could go as far as to wake him from even the drunkest of stupors with the overwhelming urge of wanting to wrap it's owner in the tightest, warmest hug.

"Hey, Artie." He fumbled to place the bottle under his desk, away from the young boy's curious eyes. "Cannae sleep?"

Arthur's voice was soft as it spoke. How could a boy so young have a voice so quiet? "I got some terrible news today."

William turned in his chair, focusing his full attention on his brother. "Let's have it."

"Francis is going back to France." Arthur's voice remained steady, with no evidence of wavering. Yet his eyes, puffy and red, showed sure signs of crying.

William raised an eyebrow, surprised. This was the first time Arthur had given him any kind of detail about his mysterious crush. "Yer boy's French?"

"Yes, he's French. And he's not _my_ boy…" He sat down across from the redhead, wiping a stray tear away from the side of his face. "And he's going back to France. That's the end of my life as I know it."

William nodded understandingly. "That is bad news."

Silence echoed awkwardly through the room, both brothers confronted with a problem neither could think of a solution too.

"You know, Arthur, I'm sure he's unique and extraordinary…but general wisdom is that in the end, there isn't just one person for each of us." Will certainly wasn't that daft to believe in the whole fated lovers jargon that seemed to appear in every chick flick he'd ever seen. Not that he'd seen that many. And not that he would care if he had seen a lot, mind you. Will was perfectly comfortable in his masculinity to sit through a sappy romance movie if necessary.

"There was for Romeo and Juliet. There was for Holmes and Watson. There was for Harry and Ginny. There is for you. And there is for me." He held up his pointer finger. "He's the one."

William smiled, amused by his brother's naivety. "Fair enough. And his name's Francis?"

"Yeah, I know." Arthur sounded a little amazed by the coincidence himself. "Same as Mum."*

* * *

"Will!" Arthur darted into the house, throwing his backpack to the ground before running to his brother, wrapping his arms around his legs and beaming up at him. "I have a plan!"

William grinned, mimicking Arthur's enthusiasm. "Thank the Lord! Tell me."

"Well…people _love_ musicians, don't they?" Arthur raised his eyebrows at Will, seeking the other's confirmation.

"Uh-huh." William nodded, though he dinnae really see where Arthur was going with this.

"Even the really weird ones get girlfriends and such." His younger brother continued, trying to get Will to catch on.

"That's right." Will leaned back in his seat, putting his hands behind his head and thinking about it. "Meat Loaf definitely got laid at least once. For God's sake, Ringo Starr married a Bond girl."

Arthur stared at him blankly, completely missing the references. "…Whatever. There's this _big_ concert at the end of term and Francis is in it. And I thought if I was in the band and played _absolutely superbly_, there's a chance that he might fall in love with me. What do you think?"

"I think it's brilliant, I think it's stellar." Will resisted the urge to laugh, amused at how Arthur's imagination ran away with him. "Apart from the one obvious tiny little bairn little hiccup."

"That I don't play a musical instrument?" Arthur smiled knowingly, his confidence unfaltering.

"Aye." Will cocked an eyebrow, wondering what sort of trick his brother had up his sleeve.

"A tiny, insignificant detail." Arthur grinned, pulling out a stick with a glittery star on the top of it.

_Oh for god's sake._ It figured his brother couldn't do anything properly without the help of his fairies.

* * *

"Has he noticed ye yet?" Will watched as Arthur scampered up into his bed, chuckling at the girly unicorn-printed sheets his brother insisted on sleeping under.

Arthur glared at him, knowing what Will was laughing about. He sent him an apologetic grin, though they both knew he wouldn't stop teasing about pink, sparkley blankets. "No. But you know the thing about romances - people only get together right at the very end…"

Will nodded. "Of course." Hell, he'd known Olivia for a couple months now and they'd still never gone on a real date. He wasn't one to criticize his elementary school aged brother for taking more than a week to get his first boy. Most kids sat around for years with a crush in their hearts, waiting until the absolute worst moment to confess to someone.

As if reading his mind, Arthur spoke up timidly. "By the way…I feel bad. I never ask you how your love life's going."

Will burst into laughter, slapping his knee. His breath suddenly caught in his throat and he choked up, coughing the deep wheeze of a chain smoker. Finally he recovered, chuckling and shaking his head. "Ha! No. That doesn't involve you. Unless of course, Olivia Haslam calls… in which case I want ye out of this house straight away, ye wee motherless mongrel."

"Aww..." Arthur whined, pouting as Will pulled the covers up over him.

"No, no." Will shook his head again, having none of it. "We'll want to have sex in every room…including yours." He smirked as Arthur caught onto the joke. "Night, ye brat."

"Night, Will. I love you."

William paused outside Arthur's door, turning back in surprise. The boy had already turned away from the hallway's invading light, leaving nothing but a little blonde tuff sticking up from the covers. No doubt trying to hide his blush. They'd never openly expressed affection for each other before - it wasn't something real men did. Nonetheless, Will let a smile spread across his face, feeling his heart warm up at the tender words. "Love ye too, ye wee bastirt."

* * *

The Queen's Church of England Primary School would now like to present their Christmas number. Lead vocals by ten-year-old Francis Bonnefoy, with the help of our school's very own band.

"I don't want a lot for Christmas~ Zere's just one thing I need~ I don't care about ze presents underneath ze Christmas tree~ I just want you for my own~ More zan you could ever know~ Make my wish come true~ All I want for Christmas is…you~" The lights slowly brightened on the stage, first centering on the long blonde haired French boy at the mic and then revealing the band behind him. Arthur gaped obviously at Francis, his fingers strumming his guitar with perfect accuracy. Will rolled his eyes as the fairies fluttered around the Brit's fingers, moving them for him expertly. He wasn't even pretending to concentrate, just drooling as the fair haired fifth grader sang in the spotlight.

He had to admit though, Arthur did seem to keep up pretty well. The fairies could place his fingers on the notes, but it was Artie's job to get the rhythm and timing right. Seeing as he was doing fine even in this mindless state, he'd probably practiced a lot - most likely just in pursuit of impressing the French boy. But Francis seemed completely oblivious to Arthur or his staring, walking across the stage without even a glance at him. The crowd seemed pleased at the least - standing up and clapping in time with the beat. Maybe once Arthur saw how popular the performance was, he would focus less on Francis and more on how well he'd done for himself.

Then again, as Arthur's eyes transfixed themselves of Francis' swaying hips, he somehow dinnae think the jobby jabber would loose sight of his goal.

* * *

Will burst through the auditorium doors, grinning as he saw Arthur come out from backstage. "Artie! Fantastic show! Classic strumming, brother." He crouched down, squeezing the blonde in a hug. When his brother dinnae respond to the hug he frowned, pulling back. What the hell was wrong with this kid?

Arthur smiled slightly, trying to showing his appreciation at the display of affection. "Thanks." His face quickly fell, unable to hide his true emotion. "Plan didn't work, though."

Will shook his head, facepalming. His brother really believed such an imaginative, unrealistic idea would go exactly as planned? "Just tell him, then."

Arthur's bushy eyebrows furrowed. "Tell him what?"

Ugh. So dense. William rubbed his temples. _"Tell him that ye love him."_

Arthur shook his defiantly. "No way." He shrugged his shoulders, sighing. "Anyway, they fly tonight."

"Even better. Arthur, ye got nothing to lose and ye'll always regret it if ye don't." He grabbed him by the shoulders, looking up into the Brit's emerald green eyes. "Ye seen the films, kiddo. It ain't over till it's over."

Arthur stared at him, contemplating, before suddenly breaking into a wide smile. "Okay. Let's do it. Let's go get the shit kicked out of us by love."

Will nodded, grinning and high fiving Arthur. "Aye."

"Just give me one sec." Arthur scampered away to grab his coat.

Will chuckled and ran his hand through his hair. Arthur was so damn obnoxious sometimes…too much trouble, that kid. But, even though he'd never admit it, his brother was downright ador- "Oh, I'm sorry." Will glanced down at the girl he'd just bumped into, not having been paying attention to his surroundings.

"Sorry."

William's eyebrows raised as he caught the familiar style of short blonde hair he'd come to love. "That's OK. My fault."

"No, no, really, it wasn't." Olivia finally looked up, recognizing the Scotsman. "Oh, hey."

"Hey." William immediately went into suave mood, leaning against the wall in an attempt to look cool. "I haven't seen ye in awhile. Ye been busy?"

Olivia shrugged, demure as always. "Yeah. Holidays."

"Right, right, 'course." Scotland nodded, looking away in an attempt to hide his blush. God dammit, his heart. Poundin' so hard for the world to hear.

"OK, I'm back. Let's go." Arthur stepped in front of Will, putting on his coat. He suddenly recognized Olivia, his eyes flickering between the two of them before settling on the redhead to give him a knowing look.

"Yeah. Well... I hope we'll get to see each other more in the New Year." Scotland grinned sheepishly, mentally kicking himself for the lame line.

Olivia raised an eyebrow but smiled. "I'll make sure we do."

"Good." Scotland quickly turned, leading Arthur to the entrance before he could make a fool out of himself any more.

Arthur seemed determined to do so for him, though. "Tell her."

"What?" William cursed under his breath as he struggled with the door handle. His hands shook, and he resisted the urge to punch the glass entrance. Like a blushing schoolgirl, he was, just from a short chat with some girl. Some...intensely...attractive...badass girl.

"You know..." Arthur puckered his lips, making kissing noises.

Scotland rolled his eyes, now having to resist the urge to punch his brother. "Don't be such an arse."

"Look, there he is." Arthur pointed through the door, into the parking lot.

"Where?"

"Over there." They both watched as Francis got into the back of a limousine, which quickly sped out into the road to avoid the traffic of cars starting to head for the exit. "Oh no." Arthur's face fell, and immediately tears started to well up in his eyes.

Will froze up, panicking. He couldn't deal with crying. It was loud, it was annoying, and it was awkward. "Hey, hey, it's OK, we'll go to the airport." He sighed with relief as he watch the hope return to Arthur's eyes. "Anno a short cut."

* * *

"Look, we're not actually flying." Scotland gritted his teeth, glaring daggers at the airport gate guard. It was the last call for flight BA0304 to Paris, and this guy wanted to waste time arguing with him. It's not like he had a damn bomb or anything, just a little boy who was clearly desperate to get onto the plane for the briefest of seconds.

The man shook his head stubbornly. "I'm sorry, sir, you can't come through."

Will clenched his fist, glancing at England. Guess he'd have to play the emotional card. He grabbed his brother, pushing him in front of the man so he could see his red, worried face. "Not even to let the boy say goodbye to the love of his life?"

The man looked down at England and hesitated, considering. He smiled, and turned to Scotland, who started to smile in return. The suddenly the man's smile fell, emotionless eyes narrowing. "No."

William sighed, turning away. "I'm sorry, Arthur." He watched helplessly as his brother teared up again, and desperately searched the airport for something to stop him from doing so. His eyes suddenly lingered on a flash of blonde hair, and his jaw dropped. "Artie…isn't that...?" Arthur looked up, and Will pointed across the way. The both watched in amazement as Francis and his escort ran through the crowd, late on arriving and desperate to make the plane.

Will nudged Arthur, who suddenly froze up in shock. He rolled his eyes, forming a cup around his mouth with his hands. If Arthur wouldn't do it, William would make sure he got Francis' attention. "Oi! Francis!"

The blonde's head swiveled, and William quickly moved, hiding in the row of seats near the gate to make sure his brother was the only one Francis saw.

Francis smiled when he caught view of the familiar English boy, and approached William's wide-eyed brother. "Arzur?"

Arthur gaped, his lips silently mouthing words incoherently. Finally, he managed to speak, barely doing so without stuttering. "I...I thought you didn't know my name."

Francis raised an eyebrow, still smiling. "Of course I do."

"Tickets, sir?" The gate manager prompted France's escort, who nudged Francis forward.

Seeing the urgency of the situation, Arthur finally gained a little confidence. "I just…I wanted to say…have a nice trip."

Scotland smacked himself at his brother's stupidity. 'Have a nice trip?' They came all this way just for him to chicken out?

However, much to Will's surprise, Francis chuckled. "Tu es si doux." He leaned in, suddenly pressing a kiss to the shocked Arthur's lips. And then, just as suddenly, he disappeared into the gate, waving just before the tunnel swallowed him.

Arthur slowly turned to Will, surprise written all over his face. He broke into a grin, running into his older brother's arms. William beamed, picking Arthur up and spinning him around in the air, neither of them caring about the judging stares of the other fliers.

"We did it, Will, we did it!" Arthur hugged his brother's neck tightly, his face flushed red in happiness.

"Aye. We did." Scotland ruffled England's hair. And not only had they done it, but Scotland had survived it, survived helping his brother through the common day problem's of a little boy's life.

Maybe being a big brother wasn't such a big deal after all.

* * *

***In my head, Mama Britannia's name is Frances.**

**I apologize for my failed usage of Scottish slang. Any typos please alert me to, I proofread twice now but I feel like there's more!**


End file.
